


Ain't It a Fine Life?

by xLoveMx



Category: Newsies (1992)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-08-26
Updated: 2014-09-25
Packaged: 2018-02-14 23:00:06
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 5,322
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2206245
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xLoveMx/pseuds/xLoveMx
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Just a couple of Newsies drabbles I have been writing, I will keep adding to them as I go along. :)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

In retrospective, Spot should have noticed sooner, much sooner actually, and he had to admit that this realization had left a few scratches on his ego. Not that he would admit to it, but he should have noticed that the way David was looking at Jack was the same way Race was looking at him when he thought that nobody could see him. The others were way too occupied with their own thoughts to notice, but Spot saw how Race´s eyes lingered on him a little longer every time, it was almost like he felt the other boy´s glance without even having to look, but he didn´t let it show, not when Race was being adorably happy thinking that he had outsmarted Spot. He should have also noticed how Jack got oddly protective of David whenever anyone else got too close to him, how Jack´s arm was around David in an instant, pulling him close, much like Spot´s own reaction to anyone getting too close to Race, but it had taken more than those simple observations to realize what was going on between those two boys.

They had been playing cards up until late and usually Spot didn´t stay over at the Lodging House, but he came over to play cards, because he was pretty good at it, and because he liked watching Race get all excited about it, even though he wouldn´t admit that out loud. The way back to Brooklyn was long and while he was the fearless leader of the Brooklyn Newsies, Spot wasn´t too keen on walking back all the way in the middle of the night, not when the other´s had a bed for him to spare. (Or a place in Race´s bed, but that was another thing he wouldn´t admit out loud).

He had almost fallen asleep when Spot noticed a movement in the room, he had always been a light sleeper, living in Brooklyn it could get you killed to not be able to be on your feet within seconds after falling asleep. Not that Spot expected a burglar in the Lodging House, even they knew that there was nothing to steal around here, so he just carefully opened his eyes just a little and looked around. The lights were still on, mostly because half of the Newsies had fallen asleep on the spot and nobody had been bothered enough to get up and turn them off. Spot noticed that almost everyone was asleep. Mush was half hanging off the bed, Specs was having trouble laying still, which was mostly due to Boots foot in his face, Dutchy had fallen asleep on the floor and nobody had wanted to move him to his top bunk and then there was David, whose right arm and leg were hanging off the bed and whose blanket had fallen to the ground, where it stayed, obviously, due to David still being asleep. For a moment Spot wondered what the movement he had noticed had been, when he saw Jack moving from his spot on the floor (he had left David to sleep in his bed) and quietly make his way over to the other boy. Back in Brooklyn that usually meant that someone would be thrown off the bed to the benefit of someone else, but Spot knew that things were different here in Lower Manhattan.

What he didn´t expect was what he got to see then though. Jack looked at David for a moment, a somewhat fond smile on his face, before he picked up the blanket, carefully pushing David back onto the bed and then draping said blanket over him. It was a simple action, something Spot would have thought Jack could be doing for any of the Newsies, but what followed was something he wasn´t aware Jack Kelly was capable of. Not that kissing someone, even if it was just on the forehead, was something that Jack was physically incapable of doing, but Spot had to admit that he hadn´t taken Jack for someone that could act so soft around someone else, but then again: People could change, and other people could change you for the better, he had experienced that himself, so instead of gasping or making any sort of comment, as many of the others would have done, he simply closed his eyes again, a smile on his face, before he went back to sleep.


	2. Chapter 2

Weirdly enough, David had always trusted Jack. Why else would you run just because a boy you had literally just met told you to? Granted, Jack had looked more like someone he could trust than Snyder ever would, but David was pretty sure that he hadn´t exactly thought about that right in that moment. Even after he had found out that Jack wasn´t who he had been pretending to be, his trust hadn´t faltered. He had been sad, and a little disappointed, yes, but somehow he had never stopped trusting Jack. David knew that he should probably evaluate his choices and think them over again, but in the end it had always worked out, he was still here, he was safe, and so were all the others.

Despite the fact that he trusted him, David had rarely ever heard Jack ask him whether or not he trusted him. It was as if it was a mutual understanding between them, so whenever it happened it was a rare occasion and it always had David stare at Jack for a moment, contemplating whether this was a good or a bad thing.

The first time it happened they were standing by the Brooklyn River on the edge of one of the towers that had been stacked of wooden transport boxes. It was the place Spot Conlon was usually found sitting at, but this time he had moved to make room for David and Jack after he had dared them to jump down into the water from it. Apparently it was an unwritten rule with the Newsies that, if somebody dared you to do something, you couldn´t say no, much to David´s dismay. Not that he couldn´t swim, his father had taught him and Les early on, but the tower was quite high and his brain was already calculating all the things that could go wrong. David could hear Spot shouting up at them from the ground, calling them ‘cowards’, amongst other things, and for a moment he seriously considered to just climb back down, even if that would mean more insults, but he felt absolutely paralysed and even if he wanted, he couldn´t move. After a moment David felt Jack´s hand slipping into his though and he looked over, only to find the other boy staring at him. It was strange how Jack knew exactly how David felt without them even having so much as spoken a word, and that was probably one of the reasons why David simply nodded when Jack asked him “You trust me, Davey?” and before his brain was able to come up with anymore scenarios, Jack jumped, pulling David with him. They landed in the water and David was only slightly panicking on the way down, but his best friend didn´t let go off him and when they surfaced back from the water, Jack was grinning at him and David was grinning right back.

The second time it happened David was a little terrified, because Jack had gotten him with a simple “You trust me, Davey?” And somehow they had ended up in David´s kitchen, with Jack cooking and refusing to let David help him. He did trust Jack, otherwise he wouldn´t be staying, but Jack never cooked, whenever they were alone it was always David that made sure they weren´t starving to death and he couldn´t remember that Jack had ever so much as touched anything that would be needed to cook a full meal. Nonetheless David sat there on his chair, watching as Jack moved around the kitchen. He looked like he knew what he was doing, which had David thinking, but he didn´t ask, because Jack also looked like he was concentrating really hard and David didn´t want to risk anything going wrong with this meal if he actually had to eat it. What Jack was cooking turned out to be a simple soup, and David watched as his best friend sat across from him, waiting for David to taste it. Jack was staring at him intensely, there was really no other way to describe it, and he eventually opened his mouth to say something, but Davey stopped him. “I do trust you,” he then said with a small smile, and Jack just shook his head. “I was gonna say that Sarah taught me, so you don´t hav´ta worry,” Jack replied, running a hand through his hair and looking down at his plate. David looked back at his best friend, the smile still on his face, as he felt his heart beat a little faster. So the great Jack Kelly had learned how to cook just for him? David picked up the spoon and tried a little bit of the soup, his smile never faltering. “It´s really good,” he eventually said and soon enough Jack was smiling as well.

The third time it happened they were both sitting outside on the fire escape, both too exhausted to keep up an actual conversation. It had been a long day and the high temperatures in New York hadn’t really been helping. Still, Jack had insisted on walking David home and they had ended up on the fire escape, like they did most of the nights Jack came home with him. It was too hot to actually say much, and they were sitting way too close, but David liked the way Jack´s shoulder felt pressed up against his, he was almost tempted to just rest his head on the other boy´s shoulder, because it wouldn´t be uncommon for them, but before David could even finish that thought, Jack had turned his head towards him, nudging his shoulder. “Davey?” he asked and David moved to look at the other boy. “Yeah?” he asked back, watching as something in Jack´s face shifted. He couldn´t quite tell what it was though, not yet. “You trust me?” “Of course.” The answer was immediate, much like Jack´s reaction. Before David could even so much as blink, Jack´s lips were on his and his heartbeat was accelerating to a rate of which David wasn´t quite sure was healthy, but he wasn’t complaining. Yes, trusting Jack Kelly had most definitely been a great idea, that was for sure.


	3. Chapter 3

The first time David Jacobs saw Jack Kelly was when they ran into each other in the hallway, or well…no, the first time he actually saw him was on his first day when he barely escaped the crowd that had formed around Jack and two other boys, who had seemed older than him, while they were trying to get the better of the other. David had made sure to get the hell out of there, because getting into a fight on his first day at school really didn´t sound like the best idea. So when he ran into Jack a few days later, all the books he had been carrying tumbling to the ground along with both of the boys, David had to admit that he was a little terrified he would be beaten up. He scrambled for his books, because while he really just wanted to run for his life, he couldn´t just leave them here in his mess and scattered all over the floor. It didn´t seem like Jack was going to beat him up right there, or maybe he was just waiting for the right moment, because David knew better than to look up at the other boy, but when he was almost done, one of the books was handed to him, and he finally looked up, meeting Jack´s eyes.

“You better watch where ya going,” he said and he had that distinctive New York accent, the one David hadn´t heard in a while, but it was definitely something he had missed while being away. He wanted to respond, say something, but to his own surprise, no words were coming out. The other boy didn´t look like he was going to beat him up anytime soon though, so instead of running, David just nodded and slowly got up, balancing the stack of books on his arms, as he watched Jack give him another grin before the other boy walked away and down the corridor, leaving David to stare.

-

Alright. So maybe Jack Kelly wasn´t the crook David had made him out to be, but that didn´t change the fact that he seemed to be trouble. In the classes they shared he was always whispering with the others, who David had made out to be his friends, a bunch of boys that almost took up the entire class, and while it was driving the teachers nuts, it almost seemed like they had given up on giving him detention though, because there hadn´t been a single lesson where any of the teachers had even so much as acknowledged Jack disturbing them. Much to David´s dismay, because he liked to pay attention in class and somehow the little notes Jack was writing and then throwing over at his table always ended up with him being scolded by the teacher, even if he didn´t open them at all.

-

“Alright,” Jack eventually said as caught up with David one day in the hall, who wasn´t really in the mood to talk to the other boy, especially not after being scolded once again for doing absolutely nothing. “What does a guy have to do ta get you to sit next to him at lunch?”

David raised an eyebrow and looked over at Jack for a moment, but not slowing down his pace. “Who says I want that?” he then replied, rounding the corner and stopping at his locker to put away his books.

“Come on, everyone wants dat,” Jack said with a cocky grin, leaning against the other lockers, looking over at David, who was simply rolling his eyes. He ignored Jack for a moment in favor of putting his books away and suddenly a thought came to him, something that made him grin when he pulled back and closed the door of his locker.

“Join Marching Band.”

“Excuse me?” Jack asked back, his expression changing from cocky to confused as he stared at David.

“Marching Band,” David repeated, the grin still on his face. “If you join Marching Band you can sit next to me.” And with that he turned around and this time it was Jack who was left standing in the hallway with a gaping expression.

-

“The Delancey brothers are never going to let ya live that down, Jackie.” Race said from his Spot next to Crutchie on the bench, who had been rather quiet about the whole subject so far.

“They´re going to make this the biggest deal this school has ever seen and then ya won´t stand a chance against them, just sayin´,” Spot agreed with a nod and Jack let out a frustrated sigh, waving at them with his hands.

“Will y´all just shut up?” he then demanded. “It´s complicated, different. That boy, he´s different.” Jack wasn´t quite sure how to explain it, but there was something about David that was special, something that made him want to get to know the other better, and well, maybe he was also a little taken aback and intrigued because usually people couldn´t quite resist the charming personality that was Jack Kelly, and yet David seemed to be rather unaffected by it.

After a while, Crutchie moved from his spot, making his way over to Jack and resting a hand on his shoulder. “If ya think he´s worth it,” he then said. “Then ya know what to do,”

-

Today had been a rather easy going day, Jack hadn´t tried to throw any notes at him and he hadn´t so much as acknowledged David´s presence, which was definitely what he had wanted, but then David wasn´t quite so sure why he was feeling more off than usual. He shook his head as he entered the band room, trying to shake off the feeling of discomfort that was somehow settling inside of him. He should have been happy that Jack seemed to be laying off, he had been nothing but a distraction to David anyway, he hadn´t even managed to practice as much as he would have liked.

David had insisted on learning an instrument at a very young age, and while he seemed like the type who would do a violin justice, he had decided to learn a different instrument. David had always thought that the trumpet was a great instrument, it was often overlooked how much strength and skill you needed to play it and how easy it was to get out of breath and while the violin was hard to learn as well David had always wanted to prove that he was strong and not as delicate as everyone always made him out to be and he had proven to be a rather excellent player over the years.

Practice hadn´t started. So he was fiddling with his notes when the teacher spoke up and caused him to look up.

“It seems like this is our lucky week, we haven´t only gained one great new trumpet player, but two!” he sounded rather excited while David was pretty sure that he looked like he had just witnessed something impossible. “Everyone welcome Jack, he´ll be with us from now on,”

Jack lifted his baseball cap for a moment, giving everyone one of those cocky smiles before he looked around to find David, who wasn´t quite sure how to react. Before he could protest, or say anything really, Jack had crossed the room and was sitting down next to the other boy, who was still staring at him.

“Are you serious?” David finally found his voice after a minute while he watched Jack lean back in his chair. “Do you even play the trumpet?”

“I wouldn´t have been allowed ta join if I didn´t now, would I, Davey?” Jack replied with an even cockier grin and for the first time David felt the urge to punch the other boy, because he made him act and sound like a fool, and David Jacobs was anything but that.

“The name is David.” David shot back, crossing his arms.

“Depends on da person calling your name. Hey. Ya know what I think we should do?”

“…what?”

“I think we should practice, I might have gotten a little…rusty, ya know? And I could use your expertise,”

“Jack!” David exclaimed a little louder than he had probably intended and suddenly all eyes were on him while Jack was laughing.

 _Dear God…_ David thought. _This is going to be one hell of a year…_


	4. Chapter 4

"And then I swear I saw him trippin' over his own feet to catch up with her," Race laughed and the rest of the boys joined in, except for David, who was sitting at his table with his arms crossed, trying his best to ignore anything coming from his friends. He was focusing on Jack instead, who was the only other boy not laughing, but then again he had his eyes closed so he was probably sleeping and not caring much about whatever the other boys were doing or saying.

"Well she ain't bad lookin'," Spot chimed in from his place next to Race on the window sill. "I wouldn't even blame him. I mean not to spoil anything Dave, but you totally wrote down all the notes twice just so she wouldn't have to do it herself when she was sick,"

"That's because Mr Boyle's class is plain boring and I had nothing better to do!" David tried to defend himself, but then stopped, because he knew that he would only be making it worse.

"And he even walks her home when he picks Les up from school," Dutchy then said. "Little bugger told me that she's lovely and adores him, not his exact words of course, but ya know,"

"I am never letting you babysit him again!" David shot back and he hated the fact that he could feel how red his face had gotten. He knew that it was because he was angry, he couldn't help it, but he was also convinced that everyone else would think that he was blushing.

"No need to freak out, Dave. It ain't a crime to have a crush," Specs then said with a smile, ruffling through David´s hair and he really has to use all the self-control he possessed to not yell at the other boy, because nobody was allowed to touch his hair and treat him like a little kid over something that wasn´t even true, he only ever let it slide when Jack did it, but that was mostly because he knew the other boy could beat the crap out of him and was also the only one who could run as fast as David, so there was actually a slight chance of Jack catching him. Not that David thought that Jack would actually hurt him, but well…his mind was always going places and he couldn´t quite get it to stop.

“Awww look at him,” Spot´s voice pulled him back from his thoughts and David looked up. “I bet ya he´s dreaming about her pretty legs right now,” Spot was grinning and David was about to just get up and leave when Jack´s voice cut through the laughter that had erupted once again.

“Will y´all shut up?” he said, shooting them all a glare before getting up. “If Davey says that he ain´t got a crush, then he ain´t got one,” David just nodded in agreement and then watched as Jack crossed the room towards the door, just glancing at him briefly. He barely managed to mouth a _‘Thank you,’_ before his best friend had disappeared from the room, leaving David with the rest of the boys, but fortunately for him they knew when to keep their mouths shut, at least for now.


	5. Something to believe in?

Jack is gone. He´s gone and nobody knows where he´s gone to. No, that´s not quite true. Of course they all know where he´s gone to, but nobody actually wants to believe that he would do it, that he would leave them all in the middle of the most important battle they would ever fight.

_Plattform 3, 4.12pm._

Davey knows. He´d been the only one running when he had heard that Jack had gone missing, but it had been too late. The train was gone and so was Jack. Sure, he could have gone after him, taken the next train, but where would have been the sense in that? Jack had made his decision and he had chosen some made up dream in his head and suddenly David felt bad, because he wished for nothing more than for Jack to fail. To arrive in Santa Fe and to realize that it wasn´t what he had been dreaming of, to realize that it was too late to come back when he had left them now.

Choices had been made, and you couldn´t take them back.

When David returns to Newsies square his face blank, everyone is giving him expectant looks and he can see the expressions on their faces, ranging from hope to anger and then his eyes meet with Katherine´s and David knows that she knows.

Of course she does. Katherine is smart, and the words from just a night ago a echoing in her ear as she wraps her arms around David, holding on tightly.

_An angel come to save me, who didn’t even know she gave me something to believe in for even a day. One day may be forever, but that’s okay._

_  
That’s okay._


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> single parents/teacher au

David loved being a teacher. Sure, it hadn´t been his first career choice when he was young, but things had changed and he absolutely adored his students and he loved that he could teach them something. His students were still quite young, which made sense since he was an Elementary School teacher, but that meant that he could teach them even more, and not just about English and Math, but about life and they all adored him as well. David could say that he was truly happy with his job, as opposed to some of his colleagues, but he never really got into that discussion, mostly because he was happy with how his career was going, as opposed to his love life.

It wasn´t like he never went on dates, but preparing for class took a lot of time and most people didn´t really do well with _“I´m sorry, I have to be at school early in the morning, but I´ll call you, alright?”_ The immediate reply was usually _“Sure. Don´t worry, I´ll call you,”_ and of course they never called. David didn´t mind too much, just sometimes, when he was done with all his work for the day and sat at home, wishing there would be someone he could share his bottle of wine with.

Right now was not the time to think about that though, because school was over and when David had been almost ready to leave, Jessica, one of his students, had returned to the classroom and just sat back down in her chair.

“Jessica,” David had said, a little surprised. “School is over,” It was obvious, but the little girl was a bit different. She had her head up in the clouds most of the time, which wasn´t necessarily bad, though. So maybe she had just forgotten that she was supposed to wait outside to be picked up.

“I know,” she had replied. “But nobody came to pick me up.” She looked up at him and David couldn´t see any signs of panic on her face, which made him think that this wasn´t the first time this had happened. He knew that some of the other parents drove her home sometimes, but he had taken over the class just a few weeks ago and he hadn´t met her parents yet.

“Alright. Should we call your mother or father?” he then asked, giving her a smile and Jessica nodded, so David went back to his desk and pulled out the list of names and phone numbers. He called the first number on the list and let the phone ring a couple of times, but no one answered. He frowned and then went on to the next number, typing it into his phone. He didn´t quite make the call though, because before he could hit the call button, the door flew open and a man, slightly older than David, burst in.

David was taken aback for a moment and almost dropped his phone as his eyes met with the other man´s.

_Wow he´s good looking._ He immediately thought and then frowned, _Not the time and place._

“I´m so sorry,” the man then said, shaking his hand as he moved over to Jessica, pressing a kiss to her head before turning back and heading towards David.

“I´m assuming…you´re Jessica´s father? Mr. Kelly?” David asked, extending his hand, which was immediately taken and…held on to? _Uhm._

“Yes, Jack. You can call me Jack. You must Mr. Jacobs.” He nodded and then quickly turned around. “Jessica, baby? Would you wait outside?” he asked softly and Jessica nodded, grabbing her bag and heading out the door.

Jack waited until the door had fallen shut before he returned his attention back to David. “I´m sorry I´m late. Usually we always find a way to pick her up, but I work late and my ex-wife was going to pick her up but then she called last minute, saying that she had some important appointment, even if she knows I usually can´t get out of work early,” Jack stopped to take a breath and David noticed that he was still holding on to his hand.

“Uh…” he glanced down and that seemed to make Jack noticed it too. He dropped the other man´s hand then, taking another breath.

“I´m sorry, I promise it won´t happen again. I will find a way to make sure she is always picked up,”

David nodded. Jack seemed like a very dedicated father and he seemed honestly upset about the fact that he had been late, even if it hadn´t been more than half an hour.

“Don´t worry,” he then found himself saying. “Like you´ve said: It wasn´t your fault, and I´m sure you´ll find a way to make it work.” He smiled. “You could set up a system, have other parents pick her up. Maybe friends of Jessica, so that, when they can´t drive her home, they can take her with them and the kids can play until you have time to pick her up,”

Jack looked at him for a moment, like he couldn´t quite believe what the other man had said. For a second David felt a little self-conscious, wondering if he had said anything wrong, but then Jack spoke up again.

“Thank you,” he said, a smile appearing on his face for the first time since they had met. “I just…her last teacher wasn´t so understanding, and the last thing I need is someone telling me I can´t take care of my daughter, my ex-wife is doing a good job at that by herself,” he sighed and suddenly David felt bad.

“Well, I could help you out. I could give you a list of parents with whose kids Jessica is friends, and their numbers, and if everything else fails, then I´m usually here for another hour after school, so if you´re ever just a little late, I can wait here,”

Jack was still looking at him then, his lips curling into a smile again and somehow David was happy that he could so easily make someone smile, especially when said someone had a  really pretty smile.

“You´d do that?” Jack then asked and David simply nodded, returning the smile. “Alright well. How about you come to dinner tonight? It´s Friday, so I´m cooking. I´m quite good, if I dare say so myself.” Jack grinned. “And then we can talk about this list and all.”

Even if David would have wanted to say no, he couldn´t. Not when Jack was grinning at him like that and _Damn you´ve only met him five minutes ago!_

“So what do you say?” Jack pulled David back from his thoughts and David couldn´t do anything but nod, his lips curling into a smile, much like Jack´s. “Alright, I´m assuming you have my address?” Another nod from David and Jack grinned before making his way towards the door, only turning around when he was already half way out.

“See you tonight, Mr. Jacobs,” And David barely managed to reply “You can call me David!” before the door fell shut and alright, yes, he most definitely would see him tonight.


End file.
